Last week, Business Insider reported on the activities of Mujtahid and how the anonymous Twitter user has changed the dynamic of political dissent within Saudi Arabia. This week, we spoke with Mujtahid about his activities.

Well, virtually so. Business Insider gchatted with the email account that Mujtahid supplies on his Twitter account, speaking only on the condition of anonymity.

Business Insider: First, I'd like to start by asking, who is Mujtahid? What does Mujtahid stand for?

Mujtahid: Mujtahid, in general, is the one who does his best with responsibility and sincerity in the issue he is dealing with. That is what I am doing with the knowledge I have. First, I do my best to verify the accuracy of my information. Second, I decide whether it can be published. Third, I decide how to publish it. It also has another specific meaning. Mujtahid in Islam is the one who does his best to use Islamic reference in a committed, responsible manner to issue a fatwa.

Who is Mujtahid? Of course no chance of declaring my personality. Mujtahid does not need to declare his identity in order to achieve this goal. Indeed it may be an advantage to stay anonymous, for many reasons.

Business Insider What specifically are the advantages have you encountered by staying anonymous? Have there been any notable disadvantages?

Mujtahid: Our society is full of preoccupations and declaring personality would distort the stand of the audience because of stereotyping every thing. In that regard anonymity prevents bias.

Business Insider: What exactly inspired you to start your work? Was there a specific instance, a "straw that broke the camel's back" so to speak, or was this plan in the works for some time?

Mujtahid: The straw which broke the camel back was the appearance of prince Abdulaziz bin ahad in Twitter [the youngest and "most favored" son of late King Fahad]. Although I had the information before this hypocrisy was irritating. I found myself obliged morally to expose him. It then rolled.

Business Insider: What is your opinion of the royal family as a whole?

Mujtahid: The al-Saud [the Saudi Arabian ruling family] are treating the country as their property. The country, its resources, its identity, its history and its culture all belong to them.

They are not interested in the country’s well-being. They are interested in their authority and privilege. That is why all the country’s resources are at their service. That is also why the country is suffering from poverty, unemployment, crime, and social disintegration despite its massive resources.

Of course you will find me aggressively critical of the royal family.

Business Insider: What do you see as the end goal of your campaign?

Mujtahid: My campaign does not have an end. I only expose corruption and hypocrisy. It is the job of activists to capitalise on that and move the people. Once transparency and accountability prevail through proper platforms and institutions, my job is over.

Once transparency and accountability prevail through proper platforms and institutions, my job is over.

Business Insider: Do you think the royal family could spearhead reforms, or that it would be willing to accept reforms which would limit corruption and hypocrisy?

Mujtahid: Unfortunately they are immune to any reform. In other words ir-reformable. I know the structure of the royal family very well. The stronger members do not want reform. The potentially "open" members have no authority and so cannot implement reform even if they want.

Business Insider: If they are immune to reform, what sort of change do you envision — or predict will occur — in the institutions of which you speak of and critique?

Mujtahid: As I told you my job is to expose and up to the activists to move. I think the most likely scenario is insistence by the royal family on its despotic policies till it reaches a breaking point similar to what happened in the rest of the Arab world.

The other scenario is for the royal family itself to collapse because of internal dispute. I had a number of tweets about this issue summarized by Al-Akhbar newspaper (that interview can be found here).

Business Insider: So why did you decide to start using Twitter instead of Facebook or any other social networking site?

Mujtahid: Twitter in Saudi Arabia is much more popular for 3 reasons. First it is much easier and less complicated than Facebook. Second it is associated with more serious stuff than Facebook especially politics. Third it is much more secure than Facebook and security is important issue in Saudi Arabia

Business Insider: Many have called you the “Julian Assange” of Saudi Arabia. Do you think this is a fair comparison? What parts of this comparison are correct, and what parts are incorrect?

Mujtahid: Leaking sensitive material is of course a correct comparison.

Not correct: Mujtahid is much more selective in his leaks choosing material which help his cause only.

Business Insider: What sort of reaction have you seen to your work, from both sides of the debate, both in public and in private? Are there any specific examples which you think are particularly telling?

Mujtahid: The regime pretends to ignore the issue formally. But it is using its intelligence army in the net to undermine my credibility or associate me with certain figures. Hundreds of fake accounts are attacking me aggressively all the time in the Twitter.

In the public side Mujtahid proved to be very reliable source and a survey done few months ago show immense belief in my credibility. My tweets are retweeted and even distributed by BB, WhatsApp, etc.,In terms of causing action that is yet to come.

Business Insider: On a related note, some inside Saudi Arabia accuse you of spreading lies. How do you get your information?

Mujtahid: I get my information from either myself and personal experience, or from royal family members or even from their close entourage. Recently when I became popular I had quite few documents through email from volunteers

Business Insider: Do you have a method of 'vetting' the information you receive, deciphering which ones are truthful and which ones are false?

Mujtahid: Yes, either it is with a document or it is telling of something will happen soon and it happens or I double check it from my other sources.

Business Insider: What specifically has been done to try to stop you or track you down?

Mujtahid: Tracking me down is an electronic job and I assume the regime will be able to do it seeking help from CIA and others. But the regime is in awkward position if it knows my personality. The regime will not be admitting it was me because it would be great embarrassment that somebody like me knows this much information including daily movement of the king

Business Insider: Is there anything that we did not discuss our readers that you would like to tell our readers?

Mujtahid: I'd like to address why this anonymous account became so popular.

First the country is being run with a policy of secrecy and deception. With the explosion of communication tools people would welcome any alternative source of information because they learned not to believe the official media.

Second, anonymity is acceptable and justified in our culture because of the expected fate of who ever publish something against the regime or its symbols. Indeed anonymity is useful to prevent bias because of widespread stereotyping in our society.